The present invention relates to an operating method for a numeric controller,                wherein the numeric controller has access to a subroutine which can be executed by the numeric controller,        wherein a production machine can be controlled by the numeric controller by execution of the subroutine,        wherein a selection command is pre-specified to the numeric controller by an operator via an operator interface, by means of which selection command at least one program statement of the subroutine is selected,        wherein the numeric controller outputs to the operator of the numeric controller a parameterized description of the at least one selected program statement or of a sequence of program statements containing the at least one selected program statement via the operator interface,        wherein the numeric controller accepts a change in the parameterized description from the operator,        wherein the numeric controller stores a modified subroutine corresponding to the changed parameterized description.        
The present invention further relates to a computer program, wherein the computer program contains machine code which can be executed directly by a numeric controller, wherein the execution of the machine code by the numeric controller causes the numeric controller to execute such an operating method.
The present invention further relates to a numeric controller, in which is stored such a computer program which can be executed by the numeric controller.
Numeric controllers usually execute a so-called subroutine during operation. The subroutine defines the way in which position-controlled and speed-controlled axes of the production machine (in particular a machine tool) are controlled. It is theoretically possible to create the subroutine directly via the operator interface of the numeric controller. Via the operator interface, however, the numeric controller only has the option of setting individual control commands sequentially, one after the other. In practice, therefore, the subroutine is created by means of a CAM system using data created using a CAD system. The CAM system may comprise a so-called postprocessor.
When the subroutine is created, a series of sequences of program statements is created by an operator of the CAM system by means of the CAM system. For each sequence of program statements the operator of the CAM system pre-specifies a parameterized description of the respective processing to the CAM system. For example, when milling during mold construction the operator of the CAM system can pre-specify which tool is to be used for a finishing operation, how great a plunging depth is to be, what the reference geometry is, and so on. He can also pre-specify the path along which a milling tool is to be moved, for example. The CAM system then creates the subroutine on the basis of the parameterized descriptions of the sequences of program statements. The subroutine is transferred to the numeric controller. It usually no longer contains the parameterized descriptions as such, but only the sequence of individual control commands for the position-controlled and speed-controlled axes of the production machine. The sequence of individual control commands may be very long (sometimes several million data sets). The criteria which were used as the basis for determining the sequence of control commands may no longer be deduced from the sequence of control commands. Examples of such criteria are the line spacing, the tool geometry, the processing strategy, effects of collision avoidance calculations, technical parameters such as for example the tool setting, etc.
The operator of the CAM system is usually a different person from the operator of the numeric controller. In many cases the operator of the CAM system does not have the technical data of the production machine, which is to be controlled by means of the subroutine. As a result, the execution of the subroutine by the numeric controller may lead to work pieces that are not correctly produced. Depending on the individual case, in such an event it may be necessary to fundamentally redefine the subroutine. In many cases, however, it is apparent for the operator of the numeric control—on the basis of his knowledge of the production machine and its technical data—which parameter of which parameterized description needs to be changed, in order to be able to manufacture a proper work piece.
In the conventional prior art the operator of the numeric controller can only make changes to the subroutine if the part of the subroutine to be changed is present in parameterized form in the numeric controller. This is usually the case for only a small fraction of the entire subroutine. In all other cases the operator of the numeric controller in the conventional prior art contacts the operator of the CAM system and informs him which parameters he wishes to have changed and in which parameterized description. The operator of the CAM system thereupon calls up the CAM system, manually changes the corresponding parameterized description and then creates the subroutine again. The correspondingly modified subroutine is transferred to the numeric controller. Recently there have also been efforts to give the operator of the numeric controller the option whereby he can also modify those parts of the subroutine that were not present in parameterized form in the numeric controller from the start.
If the operator of the numeric controller changes the subroutine, this logically leads to an inconsistency between the subroutine created by the operator of the CAM system and the modified subroutine processed by the numeric controller. In order to reestablish consistency, in the prior art the operator of the CAM system must carry out the same changes that were made by the operator of the numeric controller. Updating changes in this way is prone to errors, cumbersome and time-consuming.